Master’s degree in
Political Ecology, Degrowth & Environmental Justice

1. Introduction to the Barcelona School of Political Ecology and Degrowth (Giacomo D’Alisa)
   Introduce the history of the Barcelona School of Political Ecology and Degrowth and the core concepts and approaches it has developed since its emergence, e.g. language of valuation, ecological distribution conflict, environmentalism of the poor, post-normal science, degrowth.
2. Societal Metabolism (Marcel Llavero Pasquina)
   Introduce the theoretical concept of societal metabolism and its applied role within the studies of environmental conflict, Political Ecology and Degrowth.
3. Conservation (Sara Mestre Andrés)
   Present the neoliberal conservation logic, its key processes, and implications. Critical assessment of the habitat banking policy that promotes offsetting impacts on biodiversity of development projects.
4. Extractivism (Roberto Cantoni)
   Explain the drivers and determinants of the expansion of extraction frontiers; ecologically unequal exchange, world systems theory and the globalised neocolonial economy; extractivism and environmental conflicts; the end of extractivism.
5. Indigenous knowledge and resistance (Álvaro Fernandez Llamazares, Sandrine Gallois)
   Present indigenous perspectives on the current social-ecological crisis, scholarship approaching environmental justice through an indigenous lens, and the contributions of indigenous knowledge to the fields of sustainability and Political Ecology.
6. Real existing Degrowth (Marula Tsagkari)
   Present Degrowth and post-growth practices and experiences. Introduction of the concept/ typologies of real existing degrowth and discussion of specific cases.
7. Urban Environmental Justice (Panagiota Kostila)
   Unpack the urban and urbanization as a process whereby environmental and social change co-determine each other. Introduce Urban Environmental Justice and discuss recent urban re-naturing and climate adaptation interventions as power-laden and contested.

1. Introduction to Degrowth (Giorgos Kallis)
   Introduction to the history and sources of Degrowth, the current state of research and the future ahead.
2. Biophysical limits to growth (Salvador Pueyo)
   An explanation of the environmental source of Degrowth, including the law of entropy and biophysical limits to growth, decoupling and the links with biodiversity loss, climate crisis etc.
3. Capitalism, colonialism and growth (Jason Hickel)
   An explanation about the links between capitalism and colonialism, with a focus on unequal exchange. This section focuses on debates around global poverty and inequality to think of a degrowth future from a southern perspective.
4. Well-being and Degrowth (Filka Sekulova)
   An introduction to well-being as a multi-dimensional concept, and a theoretical and empirical lens in thinking and planning around Degrowth.
5. Decolonizing Degrowth (Brototi Roy)
   An introduction to the post-development critique and linking ideas of decolonial thinking and action with Degrowth.

1. Political Ecology (Diego Andreucci, Santiago Gorostiza)
   A critical introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Political Ecology, the study of how power affects socio-environmental relations and processes. It offers a global view of the current ecological crisis and its political, economic, cultural, historical and epistemological dimensions and interconnections. It will explore theoretical frameworks and key concepts underlying the contemporary political and ecological critique of capitalism and development.
2. Socio-Environmental Conflicts and Environmental Justice (Marta Conde Puigmal, Sara Mingorria)
   Introduction to main causes, traits and strategies of resistance in environmental conflicts through the environmental justice atlas. Together, we will explore the current colonial critique of environmental justice and transition ideas, looking instead to emancipatory locally led resistance processes. We will analyse the role of science and scientists in these conflicts.
3. Feminist Political Ecology (Federica Ravera)
   Provides a basic understanding of core feminist concepts and analytical tools needed to (a) explore the hetero-patriarchal dimensions of the socioeconomic system and the “growth society”; and (b) examine the gender dimensions of environmental justice and conflicts. Ecological economics is revisited from a feminist economics perspective. And ecofeminist contributions enrich and expand degrowth both as a discipline and a social movement.

1. Experiential Practice of Degrowth (Michael Duff, Francois Schneider, Claudio Cattaneo)
   Practically-enabled learning through exposure to attempts at embodied, transversal, degrowth living via visits to specific rural Living Labs (Can Decreix, La Bruguera, Picamoixons). Development of a personal, experiential degrowth plan, examining obstacles to change (e.g. personal, cultural, systemic, economic and more).
2. Activism in Barcelona (Claudio Cattaneo, Sergio Ruiz Cayuela)
   History of social and environmental activism in Barcelona with visits to landmarks for the city’s social movements. Presentations from city activists and theoretical classes on issues of activism.
3. Embodiment, movement and art-based expressions of Environmental Justice (Maria Heras, Carlo Sella)
   Introduction to the role and potential of artistic expressions in activist research, education and action around Environmental Justice and Degrowth. Students will actively participate in a reflective, experiential learning process through an embodied approach based on movement, participatory theatre and process work.

1. Introduction to the commons (Giacomo D’Alisa)
   Introduces the study of commons by drawing on three perspectives: the institutional school of Elinor Ostrom, Political Ecology and economy of the enclosure, and digital commons and the disruptive potential of peer-to-peer collaboration.
2. Rural commons (Sergio Villamayor)
   Takes an institutional and Political Ecology perspective to introduce the management of natural resources as led by local communities. It focuses on “traditional” natural resources such as forests, water and fisheries, and more recent ecosystem and landscape services. The course also discusses the pros and cons of “governance by communities ”, as compared to the role of governments and markets, and possibilities for integration.
3. Urban commons (Iolanda Bianchi)
   Explores the relationship between commons and the urban context. First, it examines how distinct urban processes affect the development of commons in cities, showing how these processes offer ambivalent political possibilities for urban commons. Second, it presents cases of commons across different urban geographies, dwelling on the case of Barcelona. Third, it explores the link between commons and urban policy-making, presenting some commons-inspired co-production arrangements adopted by different European local governments.
4. Digital commons and P2P production (Alex Pazaitis)
   This course is a theoretical and hands-on exploration of the theory and practice of online and offline collaboration and sharing. The goal is to engage in a critical discussion of the internet-enabled collaborative initiatives. Students will engage in multi-disciplinary literature about digital commons and their hidden socio-environmental costs.
5. Support structures and geographies of the commons (Angelos Varvarousis)
   This course aims to synthesise the lessons of the previous courses and apply them to concrete geographies. To achieve this goal, students will work in groups on the gamified educational platform upstream, which is a tool for analysing and transforming existing city-regions and other similarly scaled territories in the direction of the commons. The process is divided into four parts: in the first phase, students choose their area of research and, through the use of play-cards, analyse the existing support structures that may facilitate such a transition. In the second phase, they seek to understand the connections and the dynamics between these support structures with an emphasis on the factors that foster or hinder their co-evolution. In the third phase, they seek to read their map of supporting structures from different perspectives in order to understand and unveil missing elements and potential problems. In the final phase, they attempt to reshape the future through back casting methods.

1.  Research design (Esteve Corbera)
   We will introduce the fundamental pillars of scientific enquiry, including the main epistemological traditions, suggest possible avenues to identify a broad research topic and relevant research questions, and discuss the characteristics and challenges of conducting multidisciplinary environmental research.
2. Ethics, positionality and participatory research (Ksenija Hanacek)
   Introduction to research design and overview of ontologies and epistemology with positioning, reflexivity and ethics; qualitative, quantitative methods and mixed for data collection, questions research and objectives located in each method; data analysis; plural forms of knowledge through a critical, participatory and decolonial lens.
3. Qualitative Methods (Simona Getova)
   Development of different qualitative research designs, data coding and interpretation of results. Integration of participatory and arts-based qualitative research, workshops, and writing.
4. Q-Methods (Christos Zografos)
   An introduction to Q, a mixed methodology to identify discourses, attitudes, and social narratives using a small number of interviewees. The course will teach students how to design and execute a Q study, from identifying salient statements and respondents, to analysing data and presenting findings.
5. Survey (Sergio Villamayor)
   The course is taught as a “practicum”, i.e. theory about how to design and implement a survey is linked to exercises to solve practical problems. Students will become aware of the importance of participation when designing surveys; familiar with basic biases to avoid when designing surveys, knowledgeable of basic sampling theory, acquire hands-on experience with the design of questionnaires and knowledge of best practices, aware of the opportunities and challenges of in-person, phone and online surveys; familiar with basic survey data analysis strategies.
6. Integrated Assessment (Raul Velasco Fernandez)
   Hands on practice with quantitative assessment techniques such as social multi-criteria evaluation and MUSIASEM (multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism), including participatory designs of doing research.

1. Facilitation Technique (Mar Maiques Díaz)
   This course introduces group cohesion facilitation, horizontal decision-making processes, conflict resolution practices and creative tools to get there.
2. Campaigning (Emma Avilez, Rakel Muñoz)
   This course teaches how to design and build an activist campaign both from an organization’s perspective and from grassroots. special emphasis on communication techniques and political strategy. Activist collectives will be invited to participate. Methodologies like theory of change, audience understanding and storytelling will be part of the module .
3. Setting up a cooperative enterprise (Andrea Calsamiglia)
   This course aims to learn the practical aspects of setting up an enterprise in the social, solidarity or collaborative sector. Professionals from the sector will be invited to participate.
4. Promoting open community economies (Mònica Garriga)
   This course explores how to set up open sustainable projects with the community that is targeted. Using the commons sustainability model as a way of collectively solving the needs of people.

Option A: Scientific research with either an academic output (i.e. an academic paper) or a non-academic output (i.e. an opinion article for a national or international newspaper).

Option B: Project through a practicum in an organization contributing to a more socioecological society.

You can present your TFM by September, or extend your master’s until March of the following year.